Boxing Notebook; Breland Is Hooked on Fishing Sideline

By PHIL BERGER

Published: May 21, 1987

When Mark Breland, the World Boxing Association welterweight champion, won his title last February from Harold Volbrecht, he broke his left hand doing it.

In his recuperative period, Breland found himself bored with a training regimen restricted at first to aerobic exercises and roadwork in Central Park, and to leisure hours spent hanging out with friends in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where he grew up.

So, in March, Breland, who now lives in Manhattan, signed on with an unlikely-sounding cause called ''The Citizens Committee For Urban Fishing, Inc.''

The committee, which is the creation of a New York real-estate developer, Stephen Sloan, and his daughter Suzanne, organizes free fishing days for children and senior citizens in the metropolitan area. It supplies the tackle and, on its special days, stocks the designated lake or river with catfish trucked in from Belfonte, Pa.

As a paid employee of the committee, Breland has raised money and expects to develop a comic book for youngsters on how to catch and then fillet a fish. In addition, Breland will one of the hosts for the fishing excursions.

Breland is no stranger to angling. He has fished at his various training camps, including deep-sea sport off Tampa, where he trained for Volbrecht.

Breland's tougher side will be on view in a tune-up bout on either June 26 or July 4 in Europe. His next title defense is scheduled for Aug. 22 against Tommy Ayers. Makes Impression

Earlier this year, the actor James Caan and some of his friends were watching a televised fight card that included a bout involving a heavyweight named Mike (The Bounty) Hunter.

Hunter made an impression. When he stepped into the ring that night, he was in an outfit to match his name -a black cowboy hat, a black mask and a gunfighter coat. Caan and his group were amused by the get-up. But when stripped down to his boxing trunks, Hunter struck the actor as a real talent.

''He had a terrible left hand,'' said Caan. ''But he had speed, and something else not inherent in all boxers. Most fighters move straight in and out. Hunter would take lateral routes. He knew the angles to avoid being hurt. He had this ability to move, plus a lot of heart.''

Caan was intrigued enough by Hunter to get investors to put up a stake through which the fighter's contract was bought out last February and Caan became manager. With the actor in his corner, Hunter no longer was obliged to wear his garish pre-fight gear.

''He told me,'' said Caan, '' 'I had to attract attention.' I said , 'Well, obviously you did. But from now on, I'll wear the costumes. You'll just fight.' I wanted a fighter to be proud of. I'm not interested in clowns.''

Well, this week Caan found himself wondering just what sort of fighter his group had bought. On Monday, Hunter lost for the first time as a pro - an eight-round split decision to Levi Billups, a former player for the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. Against Billups, Hunter lacked passion and, by Caan's account, was ''clowning, holding and dancing around the ring.'' ''He just didn't fight,'' said Caan. Hunter, who in earlier days was imprisoned for armed robbery, was reminded of his past after the loss.

''I told him,'' said Caan,''it was a cinch he didn't do time for assault and battery.''

Hunter, with a 7-1-2 record, is scheduled to fight next week in Reseda, Calif., and Caan expects to get him a rematch in June against Billups. If Hunter fails to show the potential Caan sees in him - a potential, the manager says, that is blunted by the fighter's inclination not to listen - then Hunter may be out in the cold.

''If he wants to be a $50 club fighter, it's up to him,'' said Caan. ''But that's not worth my time.'' McGuigan Ends Feud

Barry McGuigan, the former W.B.A. featherweight champion, has ended a nearly yearlong feud with his manager, Barney Eastwood. In agreeing to put a halt to litigation, McGuigan is said to be getting a settlement in excess of $1 million - far more than the ''public'' figure of $250,000. In turn, Eastwood will promote McGuigan's next two fights. McGuigan is expected to step up in class to either the junior lightweight or lightweight division. . . . Mike Tyson, the W.B.C.-W.B.A. heavyweight champion, will narrate a series of two- to three-minute segments of past great bouts. The spots will serve as between-program fillers for Home Box Office, beginning late this summer. ''At the end of each of these pieces ,'' said Seth Abraham of HBO, ''viewers will be invited to write in and ask Mike Tyson boxing questions.'' . . . HBO has outbid Showtime for the rights to a July 18 match between Mike McCallum, the W.B.A. junior middleweight champion, and Donald Curry. Showtime, outspent by HBO for the delayed rights to the Marvelous Marvin Hagler-Ray Leonard fight, is now said to be re-assessing its commitment to boxing.